The Tories are flatlining in the polls under Kemi Badenoch and are now scrambling for ideas to reinvigorate the party.
So where better to look than the winning campaigns of old?
Tomorrow, Nigel Huddleston, the lesser-known chairman of the Tory party, along with the whole party board, will visit the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Their purpose is to review the party’s official archive, which contains various materials such as leaflets, handbills, car stickers, posters, manifestoes, and direct mail. These items date back to 1867 when the party was led by the Earl of Derby.
Huddleston and a team of researchers will pore over papers in search of policy ideas, slogans, and campaign themes.
One valuable piece worth exploring during their visit is the iconic 1979 Tory election poster created by the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi for Margaret Thatcher’s first general election campaign as the leader of the Tory party, titled “Labour Isn’t Working.”
Nigel Huddleston, the Tory party chairman who is not widely known, is joined by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch in the center and MP James Cartlidge on the left as they prepare to explore the official party archive at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.
They could do worse than start with the famous 1979 Tory election poster devised by Saatchi & Saatchi for Mrs Thatcher’s first general election campaign as Tory leader, Labour Isn’t Working (pictured)
Depicting a dole queue snaking out of an unemployment office, it was a fatal blow to Labour and Thatcher won a 43-seat majority.
With the Tories lagging behind Reform in the polls, looking back to the future might be their best chance of survival.
No wonder Khan always wants more
London mayor Sadiq Khan never misses an opportunity to demand more cash from the Government to combat knife crime and poverty. But is his budget really that stretched?
Waste watchdogs have revealed that Khan has squandered £32,835 on ‘brand insights’ for social media and £16 million on taxi fares for Transport for London staff during tube strikes.
London mayor Sadiq Khan never misses an opportunity to demand more cash from the Government to combat knife crime and poverty. But is his budget really that stretched? Pictured: Cartoon of Sadiq Khan
The woke mayor is also spending £450,000 on six full-time equality, and diversity officers to ensure City Hall is ‘inclusive’.
Wouldn’t that money be better spent on more bobbies on the beat?
Defection of the week:
For the first time in recent memory, a Labour councillor has defected to the Tories in Camden. Shiva Tiwari, who had been a Labour councillor for seven years until he switched last week, says: ‘We’ve raised council tax every year – and yet rubbish collection, crime rates and homelessness are all getting worse.’
It’s particularly embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer, one of Camden’s two Labour MPs.
For the first time in recent memory, a Labour councillor has defected to the Tories in Camden. Shiva Tiwari (pictured) had been a Labour councillor for seven years until he switched last week
It’s particularly embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer, one of Camden’s two Labour MPs
The fling we all regret
The memoir End Of An Era: The Decline And Fall Of The Tory Party by former minister Mark Field is the talk of Westminster.
While the book is gloomy about the party’s prospects, most readers are more intrigued by the revelations about his 18-month affair with Liz Truss, which wrecked his first marriage nearly 20 years ago. He says of Truss: ‘Her manic energy was intoxicating, disconcerting, exhausting.’
The memoir End Of An Era: The Decline And Fall Of The Tory Party by former minister Mark Field (pictured in 2018) is the talk of Westminster
While the book is gloomy about the party’s prospects, most readers are more intrigued by the revelations about his 18-month affair with Liz Truss (pictured), which wrecked his first marriage nearly 20 years ago
One shadow minister whispered to me yesterday: ‘Thank God her premiership didn’t last as long as the affair. Think what damage she did in 49 days. Eighteen months would have been an even bigger catastrophe.’
Farage: ‘Black labs matter’
Determined to appeal to as many voters as possible, Reform leader Nigel Farage now hopes to take a lead with dog owners. When speaking about his two black labradors, he quipped: ‘Black labs matter.’
Determined to appeal to as many voters as possible, Reform leader Nigel Farage (pictured at a farmers’ protest last month) now hopes to take a lead with dog owners
Cronyism? Look in the mirror
Boris Johnson’s 2023 resignation honours list was condemned by Labour shadow minister Thangam Debbonaire: ‘This has been rewarding cronies… Keir Starmer would never do that.’ Last week she was introduced into the House of Lords as Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney. Who put her there? Keir Starmer.
Boris Johnson’s 2023 resignation honours list was condemned by Labour shadow minister Thangam Debbonaire (pictured): ‘This has been rewarding cronies… Keir Starmer would never do that’
Music recommendations for Charlotte Church
Ian Anderson, flute-playing singer with Jethro Tull, issues a salvo against celebs parroting Hamas slogans. ‘Shouts of river to the sea, displaying wilful ignorance as to shifting tides of history,’ he sings on new album Curious Ruminant. Perhaps a copy will find its way to pro-Palestinian activist Charlotte Church.
